Google searches and government investigation of pornography sites
It's the return of Free porn, Google, spam, Internet censorship, and the Supreme Court! (really)
Bush Lawyers Ask Judge To Make Google Hand Over Data; Google Promises A Fight:
The Bush administration on Wednesday asked a federal judge to order Google Inc. to turn over a broad range of material from its closely guarded databases.
The move is part of a government effort to revive an Internet child protection law struck down two years ago by the U.S. Supreme Court. The law was meant to punish online pornography sites that make their content accessible to minors. The government contends it needs the Google data to determine how often pornography shows up in online searches.
...
As a result, government lawyers said in court papers they are developing a defense of the 1998 law based on the argument that it is far more effective than software filters in protecting children from porn. To back that claim, the government has subpoenaed search engines to develop a factual record of how often Web users encounter online porn and how Web searches turn up material they say is ``harmful to minors.''
[via John Battelle's Searchblog]
I hope this doesn't lead to another round of touting censorware.
On the other hand, maybe I'll finally be hired as an expert-witness for a fat consulting fee :-).
By Seth Finkelstein |
posted in censorware
, google
|
on January 19, 2006 05:55 AM
(Infothought permalink)
